2022 AA Prize for Unbuilt Work – Joint Winner

Jury citation

This project builds, knowingly or unknowingly, on the work of Barbara Schaffer and the Government Architect NSW’s Sydney Green Grid – which itself was inspired by the All London Green Grid. The idea within both of these monumental projects is that they would be implemented not by a grand city-building infrastructure project, but by hundreds of smaller, site-specific projects, each of which forms a piece of the planned network. Native Networks could be one of those pieces, taking the big idea and resolving it at the detail of the street, the shrub, the bird.

The proposal is to create a habitat link between the established green spaces of Sydney’s CBD, starting with Farm Cove and the Royal Botanic Garden and ending at Sydney Park. Our native and endangered fauna would thrive in a connected landscape of varying flora. But the idea is not simply to connect the gang-gang cockatoos and the small pale grass lily; it is to connect us. It would provide ways for us to get, say, from a meeting at Circular Quay to our home in St Peters, while riding through a living environment of indigenous species.

In line with the message that’s coming through from our Aboriginal friends and collaborators, the proposal asks us to consider sharing the city, for our own benefit as well as the benefit of all living beings. We need to form better, more equal relationships with our places, with Country. There are some bold and politically terrifying ideas here. To achieve the Native Networks’ aim, the project would need to be broken into even smaller pieces – but that’s okay. The point of an unbuilt idea is often just to plant the seed of the next real project, no matter how small.

Architect’s description

Climate pressure is urging us to wild our cities, to create environments that provide refuge for plants, animals and insects. The City of Sydney highlights that a major threat to biodiversity in our city is not only the lack of habitat availability but the lack of habitat connectivity.

This proposal seeks to address these issues through the creation of an indigenous flora network. By using the Central and Eveleigh train lines to link the Royal Botanic Garden, Hyde Park and Sydney Park, the network becomes a connecting device between these important parklands and creates new urban habitat for our endangered indigenous flora. The flora network is to be populated with a range of Australian native plants, creating additional habitat for the 501 flora and fauna entities listed under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act in the Sydney Basin bioregion. W ith designated areas for native flowering nurseries as well as apiaries , i t will a lso increase the presence of a wide variety of insects and, importantly, pollinators.

The network requires the immediate urban street condition to be challenged by reducing car lanes, implementing bike lanes and prioritizing connecting gardens and elevated nature strips. Buildings become frameworks for native Australian plants to grow and reclaim the city. The increased plant and tree coverage cools the city and reduces the risk of flooding as water is absorbed and collected through gardens, while excess is drained and recycled to sustain the ecosystem.

The network bridges over Central train lines as an extension of Prince Alfred Park while connecting Surry Hills to the newly zoned ‘tech hub.’ It is divided into microcosms of forest, wetland and grassland habitats, increasing biodiversity. A bush food farm provides opportunities for education on the sustainable practices of Indigenous peoples.

The network’s aim is to promote a symbiotic relationship between all of the city’s inhabitants – human, animal and plant. This connection is encouraged through pathways, cycleways, pavilions and sculpture, transforming a daily commute into an immersion in nature. The network captures the opportunity provided by Sydney’s existing rail networks to conserve and increase urban biodiversity, which in turn improves quality of life for the city’s residents.

Native Networks is located on Gadigal land.